Welcome back, Dungeon Crawlers! I am so excited about this content I’m putting out to you all. I have inside content for the new updates to the Player’s Handbook that will be released in 2024! I am here to give you all my opinions on it and go through all the changes being made to the game.
I have six documents from Wizards of the Coast that I will review for the next few weeks. Let’s get started with some character origin updates. The character origin focuses on the character's race, background, and language. I will insert the origin chart, as seen in current player’s handbooks, that explains every aspect of the character.
** These are subject to change as this is playtest material**
CHARACTER ORIGIN OVERVIEW
Race Trait Description
Creature Type: Every character and monster in the game has a Creature Type.
Size: A character’s size determines the amount of space the character occupies, as explained in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.
Speed: Speed fuels a character's movement, as explained in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.
Life Span: This is an average for a member of the race, assuming the dangers of adventure don’t shorten that span!
Special Traits: Each race provides special traits, a collection of abilities that characters gain from their ancestors.
Background Trait Description
Ability Score Bonus: A background grants a +2 bonus to one ability score and a +1 bonus to a different one.
Skill Proficiencies: You get two skill proficiencies from a background.
Tool Proficiency: Each background gives tool proficiency with one tool.
Language: A character learns one language from a background.
Feat: Each background provides a 1st-level feat—a special ability acquired in the character’s past.
Equipment: A background provides a portion of a character's starting equipment, with the rest coming from class.
Changes to race
Humans
First, I will start with humans. There have been a few changes to this race since the 2014 version of the Player's Handbook. The first change is you can now classify the size of human you want to be. In the 2014 Player's Handbook, you were only a medium-sized creature. In the 2024 Handbook, you can choose medium (5-6ft) or small (2-4ft).
The second change is that you have special traits:
Resourceful: You gain Inspiration whenever you finish a long rest.
Skillful: You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Versatile: You gain the skilled feat or another 1st-level feat of your choice.
Ardling
We have a new race coming into the Player’s Handbook: an Ardling. This race is a celestial being and is a humanoid creature. They have an animal head on a human body. Here are the traits of the Ardling:
Creature Type: Humanoid
Size: Medium (about 4–7 feet tall) or Small (about 3–4 feet tall), chosen when you select this race.
Speed: 30 feet
Life Span: 200 years
The Ardling has a couple of other traits; they have Angelic Flight which, as a bonus action, you can fly at the height of your speed. As well as Celestial Legacy, you are granted a magical ability based on your chosen legacy. Finally, you get resistance to radiant damage.
Dragonborn
The next character race that has some slight changes is the dragonborn. Most of the characteristics are the same, but they added darkvision for the dragonborn, which is fantastic to see.
Dwarf
The dwarf race has also changed slightly. Your speed has increased from 25 ft to 30ft. There also have been changes to their special traits:
Dwarven Resilience: You have resistance to poison damage. You also have an advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the poisoned condition on yourself.
Dwarven Toughness: Your hit point maximum increases by one, increasing by one again whenever you gain a level.
Forge Wise: Your divine creator gave you an uncanny affinity for working with stone or metal. You gain tool proficiency with two of the following options of your choice: Jeweler’s Tools, Mason’s Tools, Smith’s Tools, or Tinker’s Tools.
Stonecunning: As a bonus action, you gain tremorsense with a range of 60 feet for 10 minutes. You must be on a stone surface or touching such a surface to use this tremorsense. The stone can be natural or worked. You can use this bonus action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Elf
Elves are next with an addition to their special traits.
Elven Lineage: You are part of an elven lineage that grants you supernatural abilities. Choose a lineage from the elven lineages table:
Drow: The lineage of the Underdark
High Elf: The lineage of fey crossings and other magical locations
Wood Elf: The lineage of primeval forests.
You gain the first-level benefit of that lineage. Starting at the third level and again at the fifth level, you also gain the ability to cast a spell with this trait. Once you cast the spell with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest.
However, you can cast the spell using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the lineage). This is also similar to the gnome race for their lineage.
Orc
We also have an orc race. It is very similar to the half-orc race but has different special traits.
Adrenaline Rush: You can take the dash action as a bonus action. When you do so, you gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Darkvision: You have darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to zero hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to one hit point instead. Once you use this trait, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
Tieflings
Finally, we are looking at the changes to tieflings. There are a few changes made to this race. First, you can now decide which legacy you want to follow as a tiefling. You can get special skills that go along with that legacy that you get at later levels. Your ulcer receives this special trait similar to one of the traits in the 2014 Player’s Handbook, but slightly different.
Otherworldly Presence: You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you cast it with this
trait, the spell uses the same spellcasting ability you use for your Fiendish Legacy trait.
Overall the changes I have seen throughout the new and updated races are that all small/medium creatures now have a speed of 30ft, which is awesome if you are playing a smaller creature. Another is bonus special traits for your race, some of which are very cool. Also, it looks like the background features you choose will add to your ability scores, which gave you extra skill proficiencies before it. I am excited to see how these play out.
Rules changes
The first change to the rules that stuck out to me was that they finally defined what creature type means and the different types in the game. This had not been cited before in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.
This is an excellent definition and can help players understand what they can and can’t do. For example, If I were to cast the spell Charm Person, I would now know what qualifies as a person in D&D terms. The last significant change to the rules that I noticed was the d20 test. Instead of ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws, it will be a d20 test. The same rules apply for the critical fail (roll a one on d20) and critical hit (roll a 20 on the d20).
I am nervous to see how these changes work out. I am so used to rolling for ability checks, attacks, and saving throws, so I hope they don’t remove it. I’m just confused about how this new version of rolling will work. I also think that adding the creature type will help DMs and the players when they decide to spell cast or roll a skill check, and they can know what type of creature they are dealing with.
This is just the start of the changes to the D&D Player’s Handbook. Let me know your thoughts on this in the comments. Next week I will look at the second article for available playtest material. I am so excited about this content, and I hope you are too!
Happy Rolling!
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